When we find ourselves on the edge — confronted by the inevitable challenge of our mortality, facing eternity, we are humbled by a mystery that cannot be fathomed.
This is a moment of religious desperation, a moment when try, in vain, to tame the ultimate.
the heart, by itself is a biological necessity, but the heart with eyes is a religious necessity.
The heart must interact with the rest of the world. Then the heart is given meaning. Then the life is given purpose.
Prayer does not take away our responsibility.
Because prayer is not simply a speaking outwards toward God.
Prayer is more than that. Prayer is an acting inward toward God.
Climate change is not going to go away if we ignore it.
We are confronted with the singular concern of our time.
The singular problem that faces not only our community, but our species.
The other day my son Silas came up to me.
“You want 50 cents?” he asked.
“Uh, sure,” I said.
He handed me what looked like a one-dollar bill. I was about to protest, and tell him that it wasn’t 50 cents, when I realized that the bill in my hand was half of a one-dollar bill.
He laughed.
“Get it?”
My friends, you may recall on a recent Sunday (September 3rd) the scripture lessons steered me, as they often do,to waxing a bit about church. In the Epistle that morning, Paul comforted us, saying “love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”(Romans 12:9-10).The gospel lesson from Matthew, though, gave us a more challenging message: If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25)…
Being chosen by God is generally considered to be a good thing.
After all, when God is on your side, you must be pretty powerful, right?
But as these stories suggest, it is not that simple.
We’ve been telling ourselves that everything is fine – that the insurance policy is paid up, that the EMT’s are well-trained, and that our hospitals are top notch… but we have secretly suspected that something may not be quite right. And when a gun appears, we are stricken with flash of certainty – everything that society has done to create the illusion of safety – all of it, it turns out, is utterly useless.
At our church’s August Chicken Barbecue all generations of folks helped –including me. I helped Ken Bacon by filling pitchers with cold water. Owen Houghton and I cut up watermelon (he taught me how to cut off the ends). I ‘shot the breeze’ with Archie Coll and Kathleen LaRou at the fire pit. Every few minutes Helen Coll would sing out that it was time to turn the chicken. At length, I settled down with a gang of corn shuckers–a crew of folks that ranged in age from 12 (or thereabouts) to 95. Community!…
